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2 men convicted after rap battle

MEDIA - Two suburban Philadelphia men face life in prison without possibility of parole in a shooting death that authorities said followed a rap battle.

Jurors in Delaware County deliberated for a little more than three hours before convicting Rashan Bowman, 27, and Marcus Cogman, 29, of second-degree murder as well as robbery and criminal conspiracy in the December 2011 shooting death of 30-year-old Jason Rossiter, the Delaware County Daily Times reported.

Bowman was also convicted of a firearms count Thursday night. Jurors acquitted the Chester defendants of first-degree murder.

A friend testified that he accompanied the victim to an Upland house where a rap battle ensued between Bowman and Rossiter, who he said overestimated his own skills at freestyle, off-the-cuff rapping with no written lyrics. He said Rossiter was saying "loony, crazy, funny stuff," most of which didn't rhyme or even make sense. Jurors were played snippets of the battle recorded on his cellphone.